


bluebird

by meowcode



Category: Lego Ninjago, The LEGO Ninjago Movie (2017)
Genre: Developing Relationship, Gen, M/M, its not really there bc they just met but theyre doing their best
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-17
Updated: 2018-02-17
Packaged: 2019-03-20 06:00:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13711356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meowcode/pseuds/meowcode
Summary: When Cole first meets Jay, he's small, nervous, obviously mourning and out of place. Neither of them really know what to do.





	bluebird

**Author's Note:**

> i shit this out in like an hour tops because i was thinking about legos. just a note, this is movie-verse specifically bcos.. i love movie jay.

“This is Jay. He’ll be training with you from now on.”

Cole looks at the boy at Master Wu’s side, and the first thing he notes is how small he is. At least, he seems small. His eyes are downcast, staring at the floor with something like determination, just sadder. A few heartbeats pass, and the boy - Jay - says nothing. Cole feels like he should, but he’s never been the most socially ept person. He settles on the standard.

“It’s nice to meet you, Jay. I hope we can work well together.”

The boy still doesn’t speak. The only acknowledgement Cole gets from him is a glance upwards, and then Master Wu places a hand on his shoulder and leads him away, to show him around, and the scene is over.

 

Jay transfers to his school the next day. He’s introduced in front of his homeclass, again doesn’t speak when spoken to. The teacher’s prodding just makes it look like he’s going to cry, and after a few tense moments under a class full of judging eyes, the teacher has him sit down.

He’s not next to Cole, but close enough. Cole cranes his head back to look at the ever-silent new guy, and finds him half buried in his scarf and fiddling with his phone.

Class continues as normal.

 

Jay doesn’t speak to him for the rest of the school day, but doesn’t seem any more tense than usual when Cole accompanies him around. Cole himself isn’t exactly popular, but he is larger than most other boys in this school, and knows his school well enough to know that Jay, if left on his own, wouldn’t last long. Small, obviously anxious, and near impossible to get talking? He’d be eaten alive. Cole’s only known him for a day and a half, but feels protective nonetheless. They’re teammates now, right?

People cast malicious glances towards Jay, but no one approaches them. When the school day ends, Jay has scuttered off before Cole can really do anything. So he does what he can, and heads to Master Wu’s dojo.

 

Jay doesn’t start training on the first day. Cole asks about it, but his master remains as vague as ever.

“He’s adapting.”

Cole doesn’t understand, but he doesn’t press it. He trains.

 

Jay does join training soon enough. On the second and third days after he arrives, he sits in silence and watches Cole power through the course. It’s only on the fourth he actually tries it himself.

He obviously doesn’t know how to fight beyond the very basics, but Cole finds himself impressed anyway. Jay’s naturally fast and agile, and definitely gets farther than Cole did on his first try.

“Where’d you learn to do that?” Cole doesn’t know exactly what he means by _that_ , but he wants to ask anyway.

Jay looks up at him, like he’d forgotten he was there, pulls his scarf tighter around his neck, and hurries out of the room.

 

On the fifth day, when Cole realizes he still doesn’t know what Jay’s voice sounds like, it makes him feel… something. Not irritation, exactly, but something akin to it.

Jay is knocked to the ground when he tries the training course that day, and for a long moment he just lays there. Cole wonders if he should offer his hand, but before he can move, Jay is up and trying again.

 

A whole week since he first laid eyes on his new teammate, and they still haven’t properly spoken a word. Cole feels… bad about the idea of asking Master Wu about Jay. Cole doesn’t know where Jay came from, why he’s here now. He doesn’t know what happened to him, but it’s clear enough from the way he’s acting he’s grieving over _something_. That he’s been displaced, thrust into things too fast for him to properly understand.

Cole thinks about him while he trods through the dojo, and comes across him by chance. Jay’s on his phone in one of the unused rooms. In front of him, he has a mirror, a small rock by his side, and sticky notes surrounding the ground around him.

For what seems like the thousandth time, Cole wonders if he should do or say something, and decides against it. He doesn’t know if Jay has noticed him. The boy taps at his phone screen a few more times with furrowed brows, and then shoves the device in a pocket on his sweater. For a long moment, he stares at the mirror in front of him, and then, quicker than Cole ever thinks he’s seen Jay act, he picks up the rock and throws it full force against the glass.

Cole starts when the mirror shatters, a yelp finally giving away his being there. Jay looks over, but doesn’t cringe away from the glass shards he’s just sent flying, and doesn’t jump back in surprise. He does, however, noticeably tense.

They stare at each other for another long moment, and then Jay appears to remember what he was doing. He shuffles around, kneels on the floor, and inspects the sticky notes around him. It’s only then Cole realizes every shard of glass has landed in a sticky note-designated spot.

“Neat, isnt it?”

It’s an odd first thing for Jay to say to him. He’s still facing away, staring at the ground like he was a week ago.

“A lot of people think the scattering of glass like this is random, but the formula’s actually pretty simple.”

There are too many factors of Jay’s voice for Cole to process, too many factors of the _situation_ for Cole to process. He says the first stupid thing he can think of.

“What’s your name?”

That gets Jay to look at him, over his shoulder. The ever-present nervousness is evident on his features still, but now with noticeable confusion.

“Didn’t Master Wu tell you?”

“I…” Cole swallows. He wishes he was better at talking to people. “I’d like to hear it from you.”

Jay blinks up at him, and then turns back to examine the glass he’s still standing in the middle of. He doesn’t look at Cole again.

“Jay. Jay Walker. ...I hope we can work well together.”


End file.
